Sebastian Payne is a data reporter for The Daily Telegraph. He writes about facts and figures in a sensible way. You can view his articles and interactive graphics here and find him on Twitter as @SebastianEPayne.

Why has there been such a surge in grassroots activity? Well, unlike past efforts, something can now actually happen if you stamp your name online. If a petition garners over 100,000 signatures, it is eligible for debate in the House of Commons.

However, there is one notable absence from the upper echelons of the e-petitions league table. The most prominent petition when the site was launched was Guido Fawkes's Restore Capital Punishment. Despite support from several MPs and a Daily Mail splash, the Restore Justice campaign has, at the time of writing, just 18,084 signatures. (NB: the e-petition to maintain the ban on capital punishment stands at 25,928 votes.)

Guido’s blog has actively been drumming up support for the campaign. But success by the e-petition closing date of February 2012 is by no means assured: assuming that additional signatures are added at the current rate, it will take another 150 days to reach the quota.

When the campaign was launched, Paul "Guido" Staines appeared in a debate with Paul Flynn MP on Channel 4 News. Staines claimed it was he, not Flynn, who was “in tune” with popular opinion on this “majority issue”. Judging by the Restore Capital Punishment flop, it would seem he was fooling himself.